There was a serious upset alert on Tuesday night at the Coors Events Center.

After a lot of panic in the crowd and in cyberspace, it turned out to be a pulse-pounding false alarm.

Disaster averted.

No. 19 Colorado overcame a 15-point deficit in the first half, a scare at the end of the second half, and mounted a late comeback in the first overtime to improve to 6-0 with an 85-80 double-overtime victory over Texas Southern in front of 8,325 relieved patrons.

"You can just feel the expectation level going up with this program," CU head coach Tad Boyle said after a sigh of relief. "And our guys have to handle it better."

Josh Scott put together his first of what will be many double-doubles at CU with 18 points and 12 rebounds. The 6-11 freshman scored the first five points of the final five-minute period to give the Buffs some breathing room.

"If there was a breath, it was a small one," Scott said. "Because they were hitting threes."

Especially Omar Strong. The senior sharpshooter led the Tigers (1-6) with 39 points, knocking down 9 of 21 shots from well beyond the arc.

Spencer Dinwiddie, Sabatino Chen and Askia Booker all took turns defending Strong and were able to cool the 5-9 guard off just enough after he blistered them for 20 points and six 3-pointers in the first half.

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"That last shot of the game pretty much tells the tale of the whole night," Dinwiddie said of Strong's basket as time expired that was taken from somewhere near Superior. "He shot a 35-footer with his head down. He looked down at the floor, at my shoes, and then shot a 35-footer and didn't hit net."

After 45 intense minutes, the Tigers (1-6) finally ran out of gas and went nearly three minutes without a point down the stretch.

Boyle told his young team that the next four opponents -- Wyoming, Colorado State, Kansas and Fresno State -- will beat them if they turn in similar efforts.

"If we play like we did tonight, Colorado State is going to beat us by 20 and they're going to out-rebound us by 20," Boyle said.

Booker's rainbow 3-pointer as the shot clock expired gave the Buffs a 71-68 lead with 41 seconds remaining in the first overtime. But Law Danner-Johnson forced more bonus basketball with a trey with 11.4 seconds left.

Strong scored seven quick points in the first overtime and gave the Tigers a 66-63 lead with a deep 3-pointer.

Scott answered with a put back, and Booker gave CU a 68-66 lead with an old-fashioned three-point play.

Strong was fouled on a 3-pointer and made 2 of 3 free throws to tie the score with 1:15 left.

The Buffs trailed 39-26 with 9.3 seconds left in the first half. Booker's 3-pointer allowed the home team to carry some momentum into the second half.

"I think the 3-pointer at the end of the half was a great play coach Boyle threw out," Texas Southern head coach Mike Davis said. "It was a perfect play for them."

CU cranked up the defensive intensity and scored 11 more unanswered points to take a 40-39 lead on a layup by Andre Roberson with 15:36 remaining.

"We couldn't sustain it," Boyle said. "Some of that was Texas Southern. My hat's off to them. ... The story tonight is Texas Southern. They played their heart out and in some respects deserved to win."

The Tigers weathered the storm and took a 50-48 lead on a 3-pointer by Raymond Penn with 9:02 to play.

Dinwiddie answered with a big shot from behind the arc on the next possession and gave CU a 56-50 cushion with another 3-pointer.

But Roberson fouled out with 1:30 left and CU clinging to a 59-56 lead.

"Without Andre we're a different team defensively," Boyle said after CU escaped with a win despite only a 46-45 edge on the glass (Roberson had 12 rebounds in 29 minutes).

After Booker missed badly on a 3-pointer, the Tigers tied the score 59-59 with 42 seconds remaining on a basket by Fred Sturdivant.

The Buffs did not get a shot off on their final possession of regulation, and Strong missed a mid-range jumper as the horn sounded.

CU trailed 39-29 at the intermission after allowing Strong to score 20 points (18 on six 3-pointers).

The Tigers shot 50 percent from the field while the Buffs built a brick house (7-for-23, 30.4 percent) and turned the ball over nine times.

"Can't repeat that," Dinwiddie said when asked what Boyle said at halftime.

CU was able to stay within striking distance by connecting on 14 of 17 free throws in the first 20 minutes.

Dinwiddie finished the game 16-for-18 at the charity stripe. Booker added 15 points but was 4-for-15 shooting.

The Buffs will put their national ranking on the line in a true road game for the first time on Saturday at Wyoming (8 p.m., Root Sports).

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Fast break

What went right

No. 19 Colorado overcame a 15-point deficit in the first half and two overtimes to stay perfect (6-0).

What went wrong

The Buffs' poor perimeter defense allowed Texas Southern guard Omar Strong to score 20 points in the first half (six 3-pointers) as the visitors led 35-20 at one point and 39-29 at the intermission.

Star of the game

Strong finished with 39 points, but Josh Scott (18 points, 12 rebounds) scored the first five points of the second overtime to finally give CU som breathing room.

What's next?

The Buffs will put their national ranking on the line in a true road game for the first time on Saturday at Wyoming (8 p.m., Root Spots).

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